Recording medium with status information thereon which changes upon reformatting and apparatus and methods for forming, recording, and reproducing the recording medium

ABSTRACT

A recording medium, such as a high-density and/or optical recording medium and apparatus and methods for recording to and reproducing from the recording medium, in order to initialize, reinitialize, format, and/or re-format the high-density and/or optical recording medium.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This U.S. non-provisional application claims priority of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/061,891 filed on Feb. 22, 2005, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to managing physical access control (PAC)and recording data, media containing PAC and recording data (forexample, high density optical discs, such as Blu-ray Disc) and apparatusand methods for recording and/or reproducing data to and/or from themedia.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Media, for example, optical discs may be used for recording a largequantity of data. Of the optical discs available, a new high densityoptical media (HD-DVD), for example, the Blu-ray Disc (hereafter calledas “BD”) is under development, which enables increased recording and/orstoring of high definition video and/or audio data.

BD further includes a rewritable Blu-ray disc (BD-RE), Blu-ray discwritable once (BD-WO), and Blu-ray disc read only (BD-ROM).

Currently, one problem with existing systems is the potentialincompatibility between drives of different versions, for example adrive of a previous version with a previous set of capabilities may havedifficulty interacting with a medium that has interacted with a driveincluding at least one capability from a subsequent set of capabilities.

Another problem with existing systems is determining an initialization,re-initialization, formatting, and/or reformatting procedure forphysical access control (PAC) information stored on the medium, forexample, a rewritable Blu-ray disc (BD-RE).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Example embodiments of the present invention provide at least one accesscontrol information area on a medium, such as a high density opticaldisc, and apparatus and methods for recording data to and reproducingdata from the medium using access control information stored in anaccess control information area. The access control information area maybe initialized, re-initialized, formatted, and/or reformatted.

An example embodiment provides a recording medium including a pluralityof recording layers. Each recording layer includes at least one accesscontrol information area for storing an access control informationcontrolling an access to the recording medium; and a status informationarea for storing a status information of the access control information.The status information is changed upon initializing of the accesscontrol information area.

An example embodiment provides a method of reformatting a recordingmedium having a plurality of recording layers. The method includesidentifying at least one access control information and statusinformation for each of the at least one access control informationrecorded in each recording layer of the recording medium; and changingthe status information for each of the at least one access controlinformation upon reformatting based on the status information.

An example embodiment provides a method of initializing a recordingmedium having a plurality of recording layers. The method includesreading status information indicating a status of an access controlinformation recorded in an access control information area of therecording medium in each recording layer; and if initializing of therecording medium is allowed, recording changed status information on therecording medium according to the initializing of the recording medium.The changed status information indicates the status of an initializedaccess control information area in each recording layer.

An example embodiment provides a method of recording on a recordingmedium having a plurality of recording layers. The method includesidentifying an access control information and status information for theaccess control information; and recording the changed status informationfor the access control information on the recording in each recordinglayer. The status information changing upon initializing of therecording medium in each recording layer

An example embodiment provides a method of reproducing from a recordingmedium having a plurality of recording layers. The method includesidentifying an access control information and status information for theaccess control information; and reproducing the changed statusinformation for the access control information from the recordingmedium. The status information changes upon initializing of therecording medium

An example embodiment provides an apparatus for recording to and/orreproducing from a recording medium having a plurality of recordinglayers. The apparatus includes a controller for controlling to record orreproduce the data based on an access control information and statusinformation for access control information; and a pick-up for recordingor reproducing the changed status information for the access controlinformation on the recording medium. The status information changes uponinitializing of the recording medium.

An example embodiment provides a recording medium including a pluralityof recording layers. Each recording layer includes an access controlinformation area for storing at least one access control informationcontrolling an access to the recording medium; and a status informationarea for storing at least one status information of each access controlinformation. The status information indicates a reusable status for theaccess control information in initialized area of the recording medium.

An example embodiment provides a recording medium including a pluralityof recording layers. Each recording layer includes an access controlinformation area for storing at least one type of access controlinformation controlling an access to the recording medium, and a statusinformation area for storing at least one status information of eachaccess control information. The status information indicates a validstatus for the primary type of the access control information andindicates a reusable status for other type of the access controlinformation in initialized area of the recording medium.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of example embodiments of the invention and areincorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrateexample embodiment(s) of the invention where,

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate PAC zones on a high density optical disc inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an INFO2 zone and an INFO1 zone on a high densityoptical disc in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a PAC recorded on a high density optical disc inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a PAC on a high density optical disc in accordancewith an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an “Unknown PAC Rules” field in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a high density optical disc in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a Primary PAC zone on a high density optical disc inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a PAC zone on a high density optical disc inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a DDS on a high density optical disc in accordancewith an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 indicates status information of a PAC zone in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 11A-11D illustrate structures, each showing a PAC statusinformation field of a DDS which indicates status information of a PACzone, in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 12A-12B illustrate initializing a PAC in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 13A-13B illustrate initializing a PAC in accordance with anotherexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 14A-14B illustrate initializing a PAC in accordance with anotherexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 15A-15B illustrate initializing a PAC in accordance with anotherexample embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 16 illustrates a block diagram of an optical recording/reproducingapparatus in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to example embodiments of thepresent invention, illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whereverpossible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout thedrawings to refer to the same or like parts.

In an example embodiment, in addition to its ordinary and customarymeaning, the term “physical access control (PAC)” may include additionalinformation being recorded on the disc for managing/controlling datarecording and reproduction for an entire disc or a specific segmentwithin a physical zone of the disc. The term “physical access control(PAC)” may be referred to as “PAC”, “PAC information”, and/or “PACcontrol information” for simplicity.

In addition, a zone within the disc on which the PAC is recorded may bereferred to as a “PAC zone” and the PAC being recording in the PAC zonein cluster units may be referred to as a “PAC cluster” for simplicity.

Furthermore, a PAC according to example embodiments of the presentinvention may include an “unknown rule”, which may restrict read/writeof data for the entire disc or a specific segment, for a drive having aspecifically unknown PAC_ID and including a drive of a previous version(for example, a “legacy” version”). A PAC having an “unknown rule”applied thereto may be referred to as an “Unknown PAC”. Similarly, aknown specific PAC_ID recorded on the PAC may be referred to as a “knownrule” and “PAC specific information” that is applied to the PAC may bereferred to as a “Known PAC”.

In an example embodiment, a “Known PAC” may be a PAC having informationrelated to a date of disc initialization and information (for example,Recorder ID, if one disc is recorded with many recorders, this may beuseful information) on a recorder (which may be an optical disc drive)of each cluster on the disc and may be referred to as a “Primary PAC”.

A structure in which the PAC is recorded on the PAC zone, and apparatusand method for recording and reproducing a data by using the same willbe described with reference to the attached drawings.

FIGS. 1A or 1B illustrate PAC zones on a high density optical disc inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1A, the high density optical disc may be partitionedfrom an inner circumference to an outer circumference, into a lead-inzone, a data zone, and a lead-out zone.

The lead-in zone may be further partitioned into an INFO2 zone and anINFO1 zone for recording various kinds of information thereon. The INFO2zone and an INFO1 zone may include PAC (Physical Access Control) zones.

For convenience, a PAC zone assigned to the INFO2 zone may be labeled aPAC2 zone and the PAC zone assigned to the INFO1 zone may be labeled aPAC1 zone. One of the PAC2 zone and the PAC1 zone may have an originalPAC recorded thereon and the other one may have a back up zone forrecording a copy of the original PAC. If a writing direction is from theinner circumference to the outer circumference of the disc, it may beadvantageous that the original PAC is recorded on the PAC11 zone and thebackup PAC is recorded on the PACI zone.

FIG. 1B illustrates a diagram of a dual layer disc structure having tworecording layers including first recording layer (L0: Layer 0) andsecond recording layer (L1: Layer 1), wherein each of the recordinglayers includes a Lead-in/out Zone (also called as an Inner Zone), aData Area, and an Outer Zone 0, or 1.

Each of the lead-in zone (inner zone 0) and the lead-out zone (innerzone 1) may include an INFO 2 zone and an INFO 1 zone for recordingmanagement information of the disc, and the PAC zones may be located inthe INFO2 zone and/or the INFO1 zone.

Similar to a single layer disc, a PAC zone assigned to the INFO2 zonemay be labeled a PAC2 zone and the PAC zone assigned to the INFO1 zonemay be labeled a PAC1 zone. One of the PAC2 zone and the PAC1 zone mayhave an original PAC recorded thereon and the other one may have a backup zone for recording a copy of the original PAC. If a writing directionis from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the disc,it may be advantageous that the original PAC is recorded on the PACIIzone and the backup PAC is recorded on the PACI zone.

In the example shown in FIG. 1B, because the PAC1 and PAC2 zones are notonly in the lead-in zone, but also in the lead-out zone for the duallayer disc, the dual layer disc has a PAC size two times greater thanthe single layer disc.

The PAC zone may be provided to handle problems that may occur when anolder version of a drive apparatus cannot detect functions on a discadded having functions compatible with a newer version of a driveapparatus. The PAC zone may handle compatibility problems using one ormore an “unknown rules”.

An “unknown rule” may be used to control predictable operations of thedisc, for example, basic control of read, write, etc., linearreplacement of a defective zone, logical overwrite, etc. An area mayalso be provided on the disc, indicating where the “unknown rule” isapplicable, for example, segments for defining the entire disc or acertain portion of the disc, which is described later in more detail.

In areas of the disc managed by the “unknown rule”, there may beprovided a DMA (Disc Management Area), a Spare Area, a User Data Area,and/or other similar areas.

In areas of the disc managed by the “unknown rule”, there are a DMA(Disc Management Area), a Spare Area, a User Data Area, and the like,and particularly, with regard to the User Data Area, segment areas whichare predetermined areas on the disc the “unknown rule” is applicablethereto can be designated thereto. (The segment will be described inmore detail, later.)

That is, by using the “unknown rule”, rules and/or other operations forcontrolling predictable operations of the above areas, such as, startingfrom basic operations of recording and reproducing, linear replacementof a defective area, logical overwrite of the BD-WO, and/or othersimilar operations may be defined.

Thus, by defining an area of the disc, an older version drive apparatusis able to access by using the “unknown rule”, a newer version of thedisc reduces unnecessary access operation of the older version driveapparatus.

Moreover, by defining an accessible area on a physical area of the discfor an older version drive apparatus to access by using the PAC, a dataarea containing user data recorded thereon can be protected morerobustly and/or unauthorized access (for example, hacking) of the discmay be prevented or reduced.

The INFO2 zone and the INFO1 zone having the PACII and I zones thereinin the lead-in zone may be reviewed in view of writable characteristicsof the high density optical disc.

FIG. 2 illustrates INFO2 zone and the INFO1 zone on a high densityoptical disc in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 2, for an example BD-RE high density optical disc, theINFO2 zone may have 256 clusters including 32 clusters of PACII zone, 32clusters of DMA (Defect Management Area) 2 zone for management ofdefects, 32 clusters of CD (Control Data) 2 zone having controlinformation recorded thereon, and/or 32 clusters of BZ (Buffer Zone) 3zone of a buffer zone.

The INFO1 zone may include 32 clusters of BZ2 zone of a buffer area, 32clusters of drive area which may be a drive area for storing informationspecific to a drive, 32 clusters of DMA1 zone for managing defects, 32clusters of CD1 zone for recording control information, and/or aBZ1-PACI zone utilizable as the PAC zone.

For a write once high density optical disc (BD-R), the INFO2 zone mayhave 256 clusters including a PACII zone, a DMA 2 zone, a CD 2 zone, anda BZ 3 zone, each with 32 clusters, and the INFO1 zone includes a BZ2zone, a DMA1 zone, a CD1 zone, and/or a BZ1-PACI zone, each with 32clusters, and 128 clusters of drive area.

For a read only high density optical disc (BD-ROM), the INFO2 zone mayhave 256 clusters including a PACII zone, a CD 2 zone, and a BZ 3 zone,each with 32 clusters, and the INFO1 zone 256 clusters including a CD1zone, and/or a BZ1-PACI zone, each with 32 clusters.

The PAC zones of example embodiments of the present invention may beassigned to the INFO2 zone and/or the INFO1 zone in the lead-in zone in32 clusters each, according to rewritable characteristics of the highdensity optical disc.

In an example of a dual layer disc having two recording layers, the PACzone may be designated, not only in the lead-in zone, but also in thelead-out zone, such that one PAC zone may have 64 clusters.

In a PAC zone of 32 clusters (or 64 clusters), one PAC may have onecluster, for recording a plurality of valid PACs. There also may be aplurality of one cluster sized PACs if desired. An example structure inwhich one PAC is recorded as one cluster is described with reference toFIG. 3.

FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram of a structure of a PAC recorded on a highdensity optical disc in accordance with an example embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, one PAC of one cluster size (32 sectors) mayinclude a header zone and a specific information zone, specific to aparticular disc drive (for example, optical disc drive).

The PAC header zone may have 384 bytes allocated to a first sector ofthe PAC, for recording various kinds of PAC information, such asinformation on an “unknown PAC rule” and segments, and another area ofthe PAC zone may have information specific to the (optical) disc drivemay be referred to as “known rules” recorded thereon.

An example structure of a PAC recorded in above structure is describedwith reference to FIG. 4. For convenience, in the description,particular fields of the PAC that require more detailed description willrefer to drawings that illustrate the particular fields.

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram showing a structure of a PAC on a highdensity optical disc in accordance with an example embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the PAC may include a header portion (in anexample, up to 384 bytes of the first frame)applicable to all PACs andan area having information specific to the drive, recorded thereon.

An example header portion may include 4 bytes of “PAC_ID”, 4 bytes of“Unknown PAC Rules”, 1 byte of “Entire Disc Flag”, 1 byte of “Number ofSegments”, and/or 32 “segments Segment_0˜Segment_31 each with 8 bytes.

The “PAC_ID” may provide the present PAC status and identificationcodes, for example, if the “PAC_ID” is ‘00 00 00 00h’, the “PAC_ID” mayindicate that the present PAC is not used, and if the “PAC_ID” is ‘FF FFFF FFh’, the “PAC_ID” may indicate that the present PAC zone isavailable for use again even if the PAC zone has been used previously.

By recording the “PAC_ID” in predetermined bits, such as ‘54 53 54 00h’,the “PAC_ID” is used as a code for determining if the disc is one thatthe present drive can make free access. That is, if the present drivedoes not know the “PAC_ID” applied thus, determining that this is a casewhen the present drive can not understand the present PAC under a reasonof version mismatch, or the like, the ‘54 53 54 00h’ is used as coderequiring to refer to information recorded on the “Unknown PAC Rules”field.

As described, the “Unknown PAC Rules” field may be used as a field thatdesignates an operation range of a drive that can not recognize thepresent PAC, which will be described further with reference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram showing a configuration of an “Unknown PACRules” field in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a degree of controllability of various areas on thedisc may be enabled by the “Unknown PAC Rules”. In this example, the“Area” column in FIG. 5 represents the controllable areas on the disc,the “Control” column represents control types, such as read/write etc.,and “Number of bits” column represents a number of bits required forcontrol. The additional bits in the “Number of bits” column mayrepresent cases of dual layer disc with two recording/reproductionsides.

Referring to FIG. 5, a degree of controllability of various areas on thedisc may be enabled by the “Unknown PAC Rules”. In this example, the“Area” column in FIG. 5 represents the controllable areas on the disc,the “Control” column represents control types, such as read/write etc.,and “Number of bits” column represents a number of bits required forcontrol. The additional bits in the “Number of bits” column mayrepresent cases of dual layer disc with two recording/reproductionsides.

“Unknown PAC Rules” may be used to control a number of areas on a disc.For example, “Unknown PAC Rules” can indicate recording controllabilityon Disc Management Area (DMA) zones (which may or may not include a DiscDefinition Structure (DDS) in the INFO 1, 2, 3 and/or 4 zone, canindicate recording controllability on the Spare Areas in the Data Zone,can indicate recording and/or reproducing controllability on the ControlData (CD) Zone in the INFO1, 2, 3, and/or 4 zones, can indicaterecording and/or reproducing controllability on the User Data Area inthe Data Zone, and/or can indicate recording and/or reproducingcontrollability on the “PAC cluster” in the INFO1 and/or 2 zone.

The following example rule may be applicable to areas (except the “PACcluster” area. In the case where the control type is write, for example,for Bits=b3, b5, b6, b7, etc., if an allocated bit is set to ‘0’, thismay be used to indicate an area relevant thereto is writable and if anallocated bit is set to ‘1’, this may be used to indicate an arearelevant thereto is not writable.

In the case where the control type is read, for example, for Bits=b2,b4, etc., if an allocated bit is set to ‘0’, this may be used toindicate an area relevant thereto is readable, and if an allocated bitis set to ‘1’, this may be used to indicate an area relevant thereto isnot readable.

With regard to the “PAC cluster” zone, in a case where the control typeis write (Bits=b1), and if an allocated bit is ‘0’, this may be used toindicate that overwrite on the present PAC is possible or status bits ofa Disc Definition Structure (DDS) is changeable. If an allocated bit is‘1’, this may be used to indicate overwrite on the present PAC is notpossible or status bits of the DDS are not changeable. The DDS will bedescribed in more detail below.

Also, with regard to the “PAC cluster” zone, in a case where the controltype is read (Bits=b0), and if an allocated bit is ‘0’, this may be usedto indicate that the “PAC cluster” zone is readable and contents of thepresent cluster are transferable externally (for example, to a host orother similar device) of a drive. If the allocated bit is ‘1’, this maybe used to indicate that contents (so called known rule) of the presentPAC cluster are not transferable except the first 384 bytes (a header)of a first data frame, which is settable only when it is intended tocontrol the disc by an unknown rule.

In an example of the User Data Area, if a segment area which is a“special” area on the disc (which is described below) is defined, theUser Data Area may be used as a field for indicating recording and/orreproducing controllability on the segment area, and not necessarily theentire User Data Area.

Write controllability is applicable only to re-writable discs BD-RE andBD-R and the write controllability of a replacement area for a defectivearea is also applicable to the re-writable discs BD-RE and BD-R. As aresult, various example features of the present invention may depend onthe re-writable characteristics of the high density (optical) disc.

Using the above technique, the “Unknown PAC Rules” field enablesdesignation of a controllable area on the disc for a drive with aversion mismatch. Moreover, the above technique may also be applicableto control access to a particular physical area on a disc at a user'soption.

Returning to FIG. 4, the “PAC Update Count” field in FIG. 4, mayindicate a number of the PAC updates, may have ‘0’ written initially,and/or may be incremented by one every time the PAC is re-written.

Further, in FIG. 4, the “Entire Disc Flag” field may be used as a fieldfor indicating that the PAC is applicable to an entire area of the discand the “Number of Segments” field is a field that may represent anumber of segment areas to which the PAC is applicable.

In an example, even in the case of b0=0 when re-initialization isallowed, if writing is not allowed by another write inhibition mechanism(for an example, a write protect (WP) flag of DDS), the initializationis inhibited. That is, the “Entire Disc Flag” may be operative in anOR-function with other write inhibition mechanisms.

The “Entire Disc Flag” field can be used as a field applicable, not onlyto a case of an unknown PAC, but also to a case of a known PAC. That is,allowability of re-initialization of even a known PAC which understandsthe PAC_ID enabling to apply the known rule may be controlled throughthe “Entire Disc Flag” field.

In another example, without providing the “Entire Disc Flag” field asdescribed above, it may also be possible that the allowability ofre-initialization may be indicated with one extra bit (for example, ofthe 32 bits of the “Unknown PAC Rule” field) as a “re-initializationflag” for indicating the allowability of re-initialization.

Moreover, it should be apparent that functions of the “Entire Disc Flag”field are not limited to flag named as such. As is clear, the functionof the “Entire Disc Flag” field is applicable to the re-initializationof a PAC, and the field may be identified as a “Initialization bit ofPAC” field.

Further, in FIG. 4, the “Number of Segments” field is a field that mayrepresent a number of segment areas to which the PAC is applicable.

In an example embodiment, a maximum number of segments may beallocatable to one PAC. In an example embodiment, a maximum number of 32segments can be allocated to one PAC and information on the allocatedsegments may be written in “Segment_0” to “Segment_31” fields, eachincluding 8 bytes. Each of the “Segment_0˜31” fields may include thefirst physical sector number (PSN) and the last PSN of the allocatedsegment area recorded thereon.

Segments are described in more detail below. FIG. 6 illustrates segmentzones on a high density optical disc in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, if required, there may be a maximum number (forexample, 32) of segment areas on the high density optical disc, forapplying the PAC thereto. The maximum number of segment area may startfrom “segment 0”.

Up to the maximum number of segments can be allocated starting from“segment 0” in an ascending order for management by one PAC, and even ifthere are a plurality of PACs, total number of the segment areas managedby the PACs should not exceed the maximum number of segments.

In an example, positions of the segment areas may be identified by anoptical disc drive by writing the first PSN, which may indicate astarting position of the allocated segment area and the last PSN whichmay indicate the last position of the allocated segment area on“Segment” fields.

In an example arrangement, none of the plurality of allocated segmentsneed overlap and the starting and ending positions may be designated atboundaries of clusters.

Thus, in example embodiments, the present invention may provide aplurality of PACs, to manage a number (for example, 32) segment areas,which are described in more detail below.

FIG. 7 illustrates a PAC zone on a high density optical disc inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, a “Primary PAC” may include 4 bytes of “PAC_ID”, 4bytes of “PAC Update Count”, 4 bytes of “Unknown PAC Rules”, 1 byte of“Entire_Disc_Flags”, 1 byte of “number of Segments”, a total of 32“Segment_0˜Segment_31 each with 8 bytes, 2 bytes of “number of RecorderID entries”, 4 bytes of “Year/Month/Date of initial recording”, 2 bytesof “Re-initialization Count”, and/or a plurality of “Recorder ID forRID_Tag xxh” fields each with 128 bytes.

The “number of Recorder ID entries”, the “Year/Month/Date of initialrecording”, the “Re-initialization Count”, and the “Recorder ID forRID_Tag xxh” fields of the “Primary PAC” may be referred to as a “knownrule”, which is PAC specific Info characterizing A “Primary PAC”. A“Primary PAC” having such a structure is discussed below.

As described above, the “PAC_ID” field may be used as a field forproviding a status and identification code of the present PAC and berecorded in ‘50 52 4D 00h’ for indicating the Primary PAC, specifically.‘50 52 4D 00h’ represents characters “PRM”, and the last 00h bitindicates that a version of the Primary PAC is ‘0’.

The “PAC Update Count” field may be used to indicate a number of updatesof the Primary PAC, may be written as 00h at the time of initialization,and may be incremented by one every time the Primary PAC is re-written.

The “Unknown PAC Rules” field is a field that may be used fordesignating an operation range of a drive that does not understand thePrimary PAC identified by “PAC_ID” having a structure as shown in FIG.5, and may be set to control the DMA area, the spare area, the controldata area, the user data area, the PAC cluster area, and/or othersimilar data.

The “Entire_Disc_Flags” field of the Primary PAC may be set to 00h forallowing initialization, and, if no segment area is allocated, the“number of Segments” field, and the “Segment_i” fields may be set to00h.

The “number of Recorder ID entries” field is a field that may be used toindicate a number of recorder IDs of 128 byte size and/or a maximumallowable number in the Primary PAC of 252.

The “Year/Month/Date of initial recording” field is a field that may beused for recording a Year, a Month, and a date of initial recording ofthe disc thereon and the “Re-initialization Count” field is a field thatmay be used for indicating a number of re-initialization of the disc.

The “Recorder ID for RID_Tag xxh” field is a field having 128 bytesallocated thereto that may be used for recorder ID information forrecording drive signatures of all recorders thereon. The 128 bytes ofdrive signature may include 48 bytes of a manufacturer's name, 48 bytesof additional identification information, and/or 32 bytes of serialnumber.

In another example, there may be a plurality of PACs, so that theplurality of PACs manage the entire disc or segment areas which can beallocated up to a maximum (for example, 32), which will be described inmore detail below.

FIG. 8 illustrates a PAC zone on a high density optical disc inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, a plurality of valid PACs, each of the same clustersize, may be written on one PAC zone (a PAC zone of INFO2 or INFO1),each with 32 clusters.

As described above, a valid PAC may be defined as a zone containing thevarious kinds of PAC information and a maximum number (for example, 32,or 64 in the case of a dual layer disc) of valid PACs may be provided ona disc, each with one cluster size that can be allocated to one PACzone.

As described above, the valid PAC may have a PAC_ID (for example,PAC_ID=54 53 54 00h) selected in advance according to a drive version ofthe optical disc having the PAC recorded thereon, and a remainder of thePAC zone may have a PAC of FF FF FF FFh recorded thereon if the PAC_IDis 00 00 00 00h, and the PAC zone not recorded yet is still anunrecorded PAC zone.

A remainder of the PAC zone having no valid PACs recorded thereon mayhave a PAC with a PAC_ID of 00 00 00 00h or FF FF FF FFh, and a PAC zonehaving nothing record thereon may be left as an unrecorded PAC.

In an example embodiment, if a defect occurs at one PAC zone the PAC isto be written thereon, the PAC may be written at an area next to thedefective area. The defect may be caused by damage to, or contaminationof a disc surface, and when the defect occurs at the area the PAC is tobe written thereon, the PAC information may be written on an area nextto the defective area.

Operations such as finding a position of a valid PAC zone from the PACzone or finding a position of a next writable PAC zone while avoiding anarea written already to require no more writing, and defective area fromabove PAC zone may an important matter in view of initialization andrecording speed of the disc and many retries may be required for readinga defective area.

In an example embodiment, the present invention describes a method inwhich status information on positions of the plurality of valid PACs, aposition of the next writable PAC, and/or other relevant information maybe written on a DDS (Disc Definition Structure).

A DDS may be a zone containing information on the first PSN of a defectlist, a position of a user data zone, sizes of spare areas, and/or otherrelevant information, and may be information written on the DMA zone ofthe disc as information on DMS (Defect Management Structure) togetherwith DFL (Defect List).

The information written in the DMA may be information scanned andpre-loaded in advance when the disc is loaded into a drive. Therefore,once various status information on the PAC, such as positions of theplurality of valid PACs, a position of the next writable PAC, and/orother relevant information is written in the DDS as pointers, theoptical disc drive may obtain information on the PAC zone withoutneeding to scan all the PAC zones.

A DDS may include various kinds of information on status of the PAC zoneand will be described below.

FIG. 9 illustrates a DDS on a high density optical disc in accordancewith an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a diagram showing an example embodiment of a DDS on ahigh density optical disc in accordance with an example embodiment ofthe present invention. The example embodiment of FIG. 9 illustrates adual layer disc, but the teachings of FIG. 9 are equally applicable to asingle layer disc.

Referring to FIG. 9, the DDS may include a “DDS identifier” field, a“DDS format” field, a “First PSN of Drive Area (P_DA)” fieldrepresenting the first physical sector number of a drive area, a “FirstPSN of Defect List (P_DFL)” field representing the first PSN of thedefect list, a “Location of LSN 0 of User Data Area” field representinga position of an LSN (logical sector number) of the user data area, an“Inner Spare Area 0 size (ISA0_size)” field representing a size of aninner spare area 0, an “Outer Spare Area size (OSA_size)” fieldrepresenting a size of an outer spare area 0, an “Inner Spare Area1_size (ISA1_size)” field representing a size of an inner spare area 1,a “Status bits of INFO1/PAC1 location on L0” field having statusinformation on the PAC1 in the INFO1 zone of the first recording layerL0 recorded thereon, a “Status bits of INFO2/PAC2 location on L0” fieldhaving status information on the PAC2 in the INFO2 zone of the firstrecording layer L0 recorded thereon, a “Status bits of INFO1/PAC1location on L1” field having status information on the PAC1 in the INFO1zone of the second recording layer L1 recorded thereon, and/or a “Statusbits of INFO2/PAC2 location on L1” field having status information onthe PAC2 in the INFO2 zone of the second recording layer L1 recordedthereon.

As indicated in the above example, the DDS may provide various statusinformation on the PAC, such as a position of cluster having valid PACallocated thereto, the next writable area, and/or other similarinformation.

An example of PAC status information of a PAC zone in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention is described in more detailwith reference to FIG. 10.

Referring to FIG. 10, two bits (for example) may be allocated to eachfield provided for indicating status information of the PAC zonerecorded on the DDS. In the example of FIG. 10, 00 indicates that thePAC cluster is unrecorded, 01 indicates that the PAC cluster has a PACwith a PAC_ID=00 00 00 00h, or PAC_ID=FF FF FF FFh recorded thereon, 10indicates that the PAC cluster is an invalid PAC (for example, due to adefect), and 11 indicates that the PAC cluster is a valid PAC.

A defect is not the only reason a PAC cluster may be identified asinvalid. For example, when the PAC cluster is not readable due to“Unknown PAC Rules” too, the PAC cluster may also be identified as aninvalid PAC, with 10. That is, as described above, the bit b0 of“Unknown PAC Rule” may be used as a bit for indicating if the PACcluster is readable, wherein even if the PAC cluster is re-writable in acase where the bit is set to 1, the PAC cluster is indicated as aninvalid PAC.

Another example of PAC status information of a PAC zone in accordancewith an example embodiment of the present invention is described in moredetail with reference to FIGS. 11A-11D, which each illustrate structuresshowing a PAC status information field of a DDS which indicate statusinformation of a PAC zone

FIG. 11A illustrates a structure of “Status bits of INFO1/PAC1 locationon L0” field for indicating status information of the PAC1 zonedesignated to the INFO1 zone of the first recording layer L0.

Referring to FIG. 11A, the “Status bits of INFO1/PAC1 location on L0”field may have a total 8 bytes (64 bits) allocated thereto starting froma byte position of 64 (for example) to a byte position of 71 (forexample), wherein by indicating status information with two bits foreach of PAC clusters, information on a total number (for example, 32) ofPAC clusters may be indicated.

Accordingly, for example, if bits b7-b6 are 11 at a 64 byte position,this may be used to indicate that the first PAC cluster in the PAC1 zoneon the first recording layer has a valid PAC. Also, if bits b5-b4 are 01at a 64 byte position (for example), this may be used to indicate thatthe second PAC cluster in the PAC1 zone on the first recording layer hasa PAC_ID=00 00 00 00h or PAC_ID=FF FF FF FFh, indicating that the PACcluster has a writable PAC.

Also, the “Status bits of INFO2/PAC2 location on L0” field may berecorded by the same method for the PAC2 zone on the INFO2 zone on thefirst recording layer, which is shown in FIG. 11B.

FIG. 11C illustrates an example structure of a “Status bits ofINFO1/PAC1 location on L1” field having status information on a PAC1 inthe INFO1 zone of the second recording layer L1, and FIG. 11D an examplestructure of a “Status bits of INFO2/PAC2 location on L1” field havingstatus information on a PAC2 in the INFO2 zone of the second recordinglayer L1, wherein information on the PAC cluster is indicated asdescribed above.

In example embodiment, characteristics of a PAC of the present inventioncan be summarized as follows.

In valid PACs, there may be “Unknown PAC” and “Known PAC” depending onwhether the valid PAC understands a PAC_ID, or not, wherein the “UnknownPAC” has recording and/or reproducing control information on certainareas on the disc (for example, the DMA area, the spare area, the userdata area, the PAC cluster, and/or other similar areas). The recordingand/or reproducing control information on the user data area may be usedas recording and/or reproducing control information on the segment area,if the segments are allocated to the user data area.

The “Known PAC” may include specific information, specific to the PAC,and a “Primary PAC” may be defined as a type of “Known PAC”, having discinitialization date information, recorder ID information, and/or othersimilar information.

A PAC zone may have a plurality of valid PACs designated thereto and thestatus of various PAC of the PAC zone may be recorded in a DDS.

Initialization of a re-writable high density optical disc (BD-RE) islikely. Disc initialization and preparation for using the disc again mayinclude formatting a DMS area and a PAC and scanning and certifying toupdate Defect List (DFL) information. Because updating the DFLinformation is an option, initialization as defined in the presentinvention may also include formatting or reformatting.

Initialization of a re-writable high density optical disc (for example,BD-RE) as defined in the present invention is intended to includere-initialization, formatting, and re-formatting.

For the initialization of a re-writable high density optical disc (forexample, BD-RE), it may be necessary to first verify if an inserted disccan be initialized. Verification of whether the disc can be initializedcan be made using the “Entire disc Flags” field (which may also betermed an “initialization bit of PAC”) and/or a disc recordinginhibition mechanism (for an example, a write protect (WP_flag) of aDDS). In an example, if a bit, b0 of the “Entire disc Flags” field isset (for example, to ‘1’) or if the recording inhibition mechanisminhibits the recording on the disc, initialization is not permitted.

In a case where the “Entire disc Flags” field that indicates if theinitialization is allowed or not is applicable to a “Known PAC”, the“Known PAC” can be initialized if the “Entire disc Flags” field allowsinitialization.

In a case where the disc is controlled by an unknown PAC, initializationmay not be possible if the “Unknown PAC Rule” inhibits recording on adata zone.

In a case where a disc can be initialized, various, example embodimentsfor initializing (or re-initializing, formatting, or reformatting) ahigh density optical disc according to example embodiments of thepresent invention are described below.

FIGS. 12A-12B illustrate a technique for initializing a PAC inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, whereinFIG. 12A illustrates changes of the PAC zone following initialization ofthe PAC and FIG. 12B illustrates a technique for recording in a DDSarea, PAC related status information following initialization of thePAC.

Referring to FIGS. 12A and 12B, in an example initialization method, thePAC zone is left as is, and only the DDS PAC related status informationis changed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 12B, only DDS information that representsstatus information on the PAC zone is changed to a next writable state.For an example, bits 11 that indicate position information of the validPAC are changed to bits 01 to indicate that a PAC zone is a nextwritable PAC zone, and bits 01 or bits 00 that indicate an originalwritable area is maintained as is.

Without separate initialization of the PAC zone, this example techniqueenables a comparatively simple PAC zone initialization process bychanging only the DDS information to identify an entire PAC zone as awritable area. A method of initialization by DDS information change,without physical initialization of the PAC zone, such as the exampledescribed above, may be referred to as logical initialization (or alogical format).

FIGS. 13A-13B illustrate a technique for initializing a PAC inaccordance with another example embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 13A-13B, the “Known PAC” including the “Primary PAC”is initialized and the “unknown PAC” is left as is. As described,initialization of a “Primary PAC” which may be considered a type of“Known PAC” may be possible because the “Entire disc flag” may be set to“0” (discussed below).

When there is no “Primary PAC” on the disc, the disc may be initializedby setting the “PAC Update Count” field and the “Re-initializationCount” field to ‘0’ at the “Primary PAC”, to produce a new “PrimaryPAC”. In this case, a Year/Month/Day of recording initialization may berecorded on the “Year/Month/Day of initial recording” field, and therecorder ID at the time of initialization may be recorded on the“Recorder ID for RID_Tag01” field.

If there is a “Primary PAC” on the disc, the new “Primary PAC”increments a “PAC Update Count” field value by one and sets theYear/Month/Day of recording initialization on the “Year/Month/Day ofinitial recording” field. Moreover, all the recorder ID lists recordedalready are erased, and a recorder ID of initial recording may berecorded on the “Recorder ID for RID_Tag01” field, and the“Re-initialization Count” field may be incremented by one.

If the “Primary PAC” is initialized by an above method, while the“Unknown PAC” is left as is, all information on a valid PAC in the DDSremains intact, as shown in FIG. 13B.

An “Unknown PAC” may be left as is at the time of disc initializationbecause the PAC has information not only on the user area, but alsoother areas (for example, the DMA area, the spare area, the control dataarea, and/or other similar areas) on the disc. As a result,initialization leaving the “Unknown PAC” as is, regardless of user data,is possible.

FIGS. 14A-14B illustrate a technique for initializing a PAC inaccordance with another example embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 14A-14B, both the “Known PAC” and the “Unknown PAC”may be initialized, including the “Primary PAC”.

Accordingly, referring to FIG. 14A, both an “Unknown PAC” with aPAC_ID=A (where “A” is an arbitrary designator), and an “Unknown PAC”with a PAC_ID=B (also an arbitrary designator) are initialized into nextwritable areas PAC_ID=00 00 00 00h or PAC_ID=FF FF FF FFh. The “PrimaryPAC” may be initialized, for example, using the technique shown in FIGS.13A-13B.

Referring to FIG. 14B, bits 11 may be used to indicate a valid PAC ofthe “Unknown PAC” and PAC related information of the DDS may be changedto 01.

FIGS. 15A-15B illustrate a technique for initializing a PAC inaccordance with another example embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 15A-15B , similar to FIGS. 14A-14B, both the “KnownPAC” and the “Unknown PAC” may be initialized, including the “PrimaryPAC”, while accounting for bit b1 of the “Unknown PAC Rule” intoaccount.

That is, as described above, if bit b1 of the “Unknown PAC Rule”, arecording control bit for the PAC cluster area, is set to 1 (forexample), to inhibit rewriting on the PAC cluster, initialization of the“Unknown PAC” is inhibited, and if bit b1 of the “Unknown PAC Rule” isset to 0 (for example), to allow rewriting on the PAC cluster,initialization of the “Unknown PAC” is made possible.

Therefore, if it is desired to leave an “Unknown PAC” as is, regardlessof the User data, it is possible to leave the “Unknown PAC” as is byusing bits b1, and, for the “Unknown PAC” to be left as is, DDSinformation is left as 11 as a valid PAC.

FIG. 16 illustrates a block diagram of an optical recording/reproducingapparatus in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the optical recording/reproducing apparatus mayinclude a recording/reproducing device 10 for performingrecording/reproduction on the optical disc and a host, or controller 20for controlling the recording/reproducing device 10. In an exampleembodiment, the recording/reproducing device 10 may act as the “opticaldisc drive” discussed above in conjunction with many example embodimentsof the present invention.

In an example embodiment, the host 20 gives a writing or reproductioninstruction to write to or reproduce from a particular area of theoptical disc to the recording/reproducing device 10, and therecording/reproducing device 10 performs the recording/reproductionto/from the particular area in response to the instruction from the host20.

The recording/reproducing device 10 may further include an interfacepart 12 for performing communication, such as exchange of data andinstructions with the host 20, a pickup part 11 for writing/reading adata to/from the optical disc directly, a data processor 13 forreceiving a signal from the pickup part 11 and recovering a desiredsignal value or modulating a signal to be written into a signal able tobe written on the optical disc, a servo part 14 for controlling thepickup part 11 to read a signal from the optical disc accurately or towrite a signal on the optical disc accurately, a memory 15 for temporarystorage of various kinds of information including management informationand data, and a microcomputer 16 for controlling various parts of therecording/reproducing device 10.

An example method for recording a PAC on a high density writable opticaldisc using the example optical recording/reproducing apparatus will bedescribed below.

Upon inserting the optical disc into the optical recording/reproducingapparatus, management information may be read from the optical disc andstored in the memory 15 of the recording/reproducing device 10, for useat the time of recording/reproduction of the optical disc.

In this state, if the user desires to write on a particular area of theoptical disc, the host 20, taking this as a writing instruction,provides information on a desired writing position to therecording/reproducing device 10, together with a data to be written.

The microcomputer 16 in the recording/reproducing device 10 may receivethe writing instruction, determine if the area of the optical disc thehost 20 desires to write is a defective area or not from the managementinformation stored in the memory 15, and/or perform data writingaccording to the writing instruction from the host 20 on an area whichis not a defective area.

If it is determined that writing on an entire disc or on a particulararea of the disc includes new features which a previous version of therecording/reproducing device is not provided with, leading the previousversion of the recording/reproducing device to fail to sense, or if itis intended to restrict functions, such as writing or reproducingto/from a particular area of the disc according to restriction set bythe user, the microcomputer 16 of the recording/reproducing device 10may write control information of the area in the PAC zone on the disc asan “Unknown PAC rule”. The microcomputer 16 of the recording/reproducingdevice 10 may also write PAC information, such as the PAC_ID for awritten state, and segment information which is control information onthe particular area of the disc.

Moreover, the microcomputer 16 of the recording/reproducing device 10may also write a PAC_ID and segment information on a particular area ofthe disc as PAC information. The recorder ID information may be recordedon the “Recorder ID for RID_Tag of the “Primary PAC”.

PAC information may be written in a plurality of valid PACs on the PAC 1zone of the INFO 1 zone as required at a one cluster size and a copy ofthe PAC recorded on the PAC1 zone may be written on the PAC2 zone of theINFO 2 zone as a backup.

The microcomputer 16 may provide position information of the area thedata is written thereon, or the PAC zone, and the data to the servo 14and the data processor 13, so that the writing is finished at a desiredposition on the optical disc through the pickup part 11.

Initialization of a high density optical disc having a PAC recordedthereon by the above-described method may be performed as describedabove under the control of the microcomputer 16 of the recording andreproducing device 10. In a example embodiment, an “Unknown PAC” may beinitialized when a cluster having the PAC recorded thereon is writableand initialization of the “Primary PAC” of the “Known PAC” may be madeby recording information on a recorder ID and date of theinitialization, and updating related count information.

In another example embodiment, a method for recording to and/orreproducing from a high density optical disc having a PAC writtenthereon will be described.

Upon inserting an optical disc into the optical recording/reproducingapparatus, management information may be read from the optical disc andstored in the memory 15 of the recording and reproducing device 10, foruse at the time of recording and reproduction of the optical disc.

The information in the memory 10 may include position information ofvarious zones included in the PAC zone on the disc. Particularly,positions of valid PACs in the PAC zone may be known from discdefinition structure (DDS) information. After positions of the validPACs are known, a PAC_ID field of the PAC may be examined, for verifyingif the PAC_ID is an identifiable PAC_ID.

If the PAC_ID is identifiable, the method determines that a recordingand reproducing device having written the data on the disc has a versionidentical to a version of the present recording and reproducing deviceor there are no separate writing/reproduction restrictions, and therecording/reproduction is performed according to the instruction fromthe host 20.

If the PAC_ID is not identifiable, determining that it is a case whenthere are recording and reproducing restrictions for entire disc or asegment area, the recording/reproduction may be performed according toan instruction from the host 20 from with reference torecording/reproduction restriction areas on the disc written as the“Unknown PAC rule” and/or the “Segment”.

The microcomputer 16 may then provide the location information and dataaccording to the instruction from the host to the servo 14 and thedata-processor 13, so that the recording/reproduction is finished at adesired location on the optical disc through the pickup part 11.

As described above, the methods and apparatus for recording andreproducing in a high density optical disc according to exampleembodiments of the present invention may have one or more of thefollowing advantages.

First, the various embodiments of updating a PAC zone and DDSinformation related thereto permits effective initialization of a highdensity optical disc.

Second, various embodiments for recording/reproducing data using a PACpermits effective data recording/reproduction to/from a high densityoptical disc.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the example embodiments ofthe present invention described above without departing from the spiritor scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the presentinvention covers the modifications and variations of this inventionprovided they come within the scope of the appended claims and theirequivalents.

1. A recording medium including a plurality of recording layers, eachrecording layer comprising: at least one access control information areafor storing an access control information controlling an access to therecording medium; and a status information area for storing a statusinformation of the access control information, wherein the statusinformation is changed upon initializing of the access controlinformation area.
 2. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the statusinformation area includes status information for each of the at leastone access control information area.
 3. The recording medium of claim 1,wherein the at least one access control information area and the statusinformation area of each recording layer is inner area of the recordingmedium.
 4. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the at least oneaccess control information area and the status information area of eachrecording layer is physically apart.
 5. The recording medium of claim 1,wherein the at least one access control information is recorded inrecording unit of the recording medium.
 6. The recording medium of claim1, wherein each recording layer further comprising an area storing thecopier of the at least one access control information.
 7. The recordingmedium of claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a rewritablerecording medium.
 8. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the statusinformation indicating valid status is changed for indicating reusablestatus after the initializing.
 9. The recording medium of claim 1,wherein the status information changes based on a status of the accesscontrol information.
 10. The recording medium of claim 9, wherein thestatus information changed depending on whether the access controlinformation is a known or unknown one.
 11. The recording medium of claim9, wherein the status information changed depending on whether theaccess control information is a primary access control information. 12.The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the access control informationincludes unknown rules, the known rules used when the access controlinformation may not be known to an apparatus attempting to record to orreproduce from the recording medium.
 13. The recording medium of claim12, wherein the recording to and or reproducing from the recordingmedium is processed according to the unknown rules when the apparatuscan not know the access control information.
 14. The recording medium ofclaim 13, wherein the unknown rules further include flag data, the flagdata indicating whether the initializing of the recording medium isallowed or not, control access to all or part of a user data in therecording medium.
 15. The recording medium of claim 14, wherein thestatus information changed when the flag data indicating theinitializing is allowed.
 16. A method of reformatting a recording mediumhaving a plurality of recording layers, comprising: identifying at leastone access control information and status information for each of the atleast one access control information recorded in each recording layer ofthe recording medium; and changing the status information for each ofthe at least one access control information upon reformatting based onthe status information.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the statusinformation indicating valid status is changed for indicating reusablestatus after the initializing.
 18. A method of initializing a recordingmedium having a plurality of recording layers, comprising: reading astatus information indicating a status of an access control informationrecorded in an access control information area of the recording mediumin each recording layer; and if initializing of the recording medium isallowed, recording changed status information on the recording mediumaccording to the initializing of the recording medium, the changedstatus information indicating status of an initialized access controlinformation area in each recording layer.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the changed status information indicates reusable status for theaccess control information area.
 20. A method of recording on arecording medium having a plurality of recording layers, comprising:identifying an access control information and status information for theaccess control information, the status information changing uponinitializing of the recording medium in each recording layer; andrecording the changed status information for the access controlinformation on the recording in each recording layer.
 21. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the recording medium is a rewritable recording medium.22. The method of claim 20, wherein the status information indicatingvalid status is changed for indicating reusable status after theinitializing.
 23. The method of claim 20, wherein the status informationchanges based on a status of the access control information.
 24. Themethod of claim 23, wherein the status information changed depending onwhether the access control information a known or unknown one.
 25. Themethod of claim 23, wherein the status information changed depending onwhether the access control information is a primary access controlinformation.
 26. The method of claim 18, wherein the access controlinformation includes unknown rules, the known rules used when the accesscontrol information may not be known to an apparatus attempting torecord to or reproduce from the recording medium.
 27. The method ofclaim 26, wherein recording to and/or reproducing from the recordingmedium is processed according to the unknown rules when the apparatuscan not know the access control information.
 28. The method of claim 26,wherein the unknown rules further include flag data, the flag dataindicating whether the initializing of the recording medium is allowedor not, control access to all or part of a user data area in therecording medium.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the statusinformation changed when the flag data indicating the initializing isallowed.
 30. A method of reproducing from a recording medium having aplurality of recording layers, comprising: identifying an access controlinformation and status information for the access control information,the status information changed upon initializing of the recordingmedium; and reproducing the changed status information for the accesscontrol information from the recording medium.
 31. The method of claim30, wherein the recording medium is a rewritable recording medium. 32.The method of claim 30, wherein the status information indicating validstatus is changed for indicating reusable status after the initializing.33. The method of claim 30, wherein the status information changed basedon a status of the access control information.
 34. The method of claim33, wherein the status information changed depending on whether theaccess control information is a known or unknown one.
 35. The method ofclaim 33, wherein the status information changed depending on whetherthe access control information is a primary access control information.36. The method of claim 33, wherein the access control informationincludes unknown rules, the known rules used when the access controlinformation may not be known to an apparatus attempting to record to orreproduce from the recording medium.
 37. The method of claim 36, whereinrecording to and/or reproducing from the recording medium is processedaccording to the unknown rules when the apparatus can not know theaccess control information.
 38. An apparatus for recording to and/orreproducing from a recording medium having a plurality of recordinglayers, comprising: a controller for controlling to record or reproducethe data based on an access control information and status informationfor access control information, the status information changed uponinitializing of the recording medium; and a pick-up for recording orreproducing the changed status information for the access controlinformation on the recording medium.
 39. The apparatus of claim 38,wherein the status information indicating valid status is changed forindicating reusable status after the initializing.
 40. The apparatus ofclaim 38, wherein the status information changes based on a status ofthe access control information.
 41. The apparatus of claim 40, whereinthe status information changed depending on whether the access controlinformation is known or unknown.
 42. The apparatus of claim 40, whereinthe status information changed depending on whether the access controlinformation is a primary access control information.
 43. The apparatusof claim 38, wherein at least one of the PAC clusters is unknown to anapparatus attempting to record to or reproduce from the recordingmedium.
 44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the pick up records toand/or reproduces from the recording medium according to unknown ruleswhen the apparatus cannot know the access control information.
 45. Arecording medium including a plurality of recording layers, eachrecording layer comprising: an access control information area forstoring at least one access control information controlling an access tothe recording medium; and a status information area for storing at leastone status information of each access control information, the statusinformation indicating reusable status for the access controlinformation in initialized area of the recording medium.
 46. Therecording medium of claim 45, wherein each of the access controlinformation includes identifying data, the identifying data changed uponthe initializing.
 47. The recording medium of claim 46, wherein thechanged identifying data is 00 00 00h or FF FF FFh.
 48. A recordingmedium including a plurality of recording layers, each recording layercomprising: an access control information area for storing at least onetype of access control information controlling an access to therecording medium, and a status information area for storing at least onestatus information of each access control information, the statusinformation indicating valid status for the primary type of the accesscontrol information and indicating reusable status for other type of theaccess control information in initialized area of the recording medium.49. The recording medium of claim 48, wherein the primary type of theaccess control information is updated after the initializing.
 50. Therecording medium of claim 48, wherein each of the access controlinformation includes identifying data, the identifying data changed uponthe initializing.
 51. The recording medium of claim 50, wherein thechanged identifying data is 00 00 00h or FF FF FFh.